More especially, the present invention relates to hair-care compositions in the form of an aerosol lacquer, a fixing or setting lotion or alternatively a styling mousse.
For some years, the production of aqueous cosmetic hair-care compositions has aroused very special interest. In effect, the use of alcohol such as ethanol or isopropanol, alone or mixed with a small proportion of water, can have some drawbacks, in particular an increase in inflammability when the composition is in the form of an aerosol lacquer.
Moreover, on ecological grounds, with a view to preserving, in particular, the ozone layer, the present tendency is to replace fluorochlorohydrocarbons of the "FREON" type in aerosols by less toxic propellants such as hydrocarbons, compressed air or dimethyl ether.
These various requirements regarding the nature of the vehicle and of the propellent agent are extremely difficult to reconcile on account of the many factors involved.
Thus, while most water-soluble film-forming polymers can, in solution in water, where appropriate in the presence of a plasticizing agent, lead to the production of an aerosol lacquer in the presence of an inert propellent agent such as dimethyl ether, such a lacquer suffers, however, from two major drawbacks.
The first is the low power of fixing the hair, inasmuch as only a low concentration of film-forming resin (&lt;10%) can be employed.
In effect, an increase in the concentration results in an increase in viscosity, and the outcome is that good diffusion can no longer be obtained.
The second drawback is the drying time, which is especially long in comparison to hair-care compositions in aqueous-alcoholic or alcoholic solution, this being due to the fact that the vehicle is chiefly water and that, the greater its proportion, the longer it will take to dry.